The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has been experiencing rapid growth. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC manufacturing are needed.
Semiconductor devices are generally manufactured using two complex manufacturing processes, i.e., front-end manufacturing, and back-end manufacturing, each involving potentially hundreds of steps. Front-end manufacturing involves the formation of a plurality of dies on the surface of a semiconductor wafer. Back-end manufacturing involves singulating an individual die from the finished wafer and packaging the die to provide structural support and environmental isolation. Taping processes can be applied to the semiconductor wafer during the front-end and back-end processes to protect a surface of the semiconductor wafer and provide mechanic support and other functions.